title: Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
abstract: It has been proposed that the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may be involved in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) etiopathogenesis. Alterations in BDNF serum levels have been observed in childhood/adulthood neurodevelopmental pathologies, but no evidence is available for BDNF serum concentrations in ADHD. The study includes 45 drug-naïve ADHD children and 45 age-sex matched healthy subjects. Concentration of serum BDNF was determined by the ELISA method. BDNF serum levels in patients with ADHD were not different from those of controls (mean ± SD; ADHD: 39.33 ± 10.41 ng/ml; controls: 38.82 ± 8.29 ng/ml, t = -0.26, p = 0.80). Our findings indicate no alteration of serum BDNF levels in untreated patients with ADHD. A further stratification for cognitive, neuropsychological and psychopathological assessment in a larger sample could be useful to clarify the role of BDNF in the endophenotype characterization of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS "Centro S. Giovanni di Dio" Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni 4, 25123, Brescia, Italy, cscassellati@fatebenefratelli.it.
authors.forename: Catia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scassellati
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zanardini
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tiberti
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pezzani
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Effedri
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Filippini
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ottolini
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gennarelli
authors.forename: Luisella
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bocchio-Chiavetto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor